The Mode Fascist

Hong Kong turned into a ridiculous and troublesome matter, though, if it weren’t for one small decision on my part, Hong Kong would’ve been disastrous. I’ll start from the beginning…

The school paid for my train ticket to Guangzhou. This was the only thing they paid for up front. In addition, they paid me my salary for the last two weeks of work, about 1,250 RMB. For those of you who don’t know, the current exchange rate is somewhere around 7 RMB to 1 US dollar. The school assured me that this would be plenty for the entire trip, which they mapped out as: an overnight train ride on a sleeper car to Guangzhou, then a simple bus ride across a bridge to Hong Kong, then to the Chinese consulate to turn in my papers and obtain my work visa, and then that same afternoon, a bus back to Guangzhou, buy a train ticket back to Handan for the same evening, another overnight sleeper, then safe and sound back to Handan by the third day. According to them, 1,250 RMB would certainly cover the expenses, which really would only be the train ticket back to Handan, and my food and drink, because, they said, there would be no fee for the work fee (since apparently they had paid  fee here in Handan) and I wouldn’t be staying overnight in Hong Kong. Sounded simple enough that I didn’t complain that I would have to cover the expenses for the train ride home and my food. I was, as I’d stated in my last post, a bit apprehensive about going there alone and without much information on how to get to where I was going. Mr. Hu, the school director, had only given me the address to the consulate and nothing concerning how to get from Guangzhou station to the consulate, or how long it would take. He seemed not to know any of these facts. But, hey, I’ve had to be adventurous in my life before, and even though I’m past the age of wanting to be adventurous anymore, I thought I’d give it one more shot.

Being that the trip would only take 3 days, I decided to just wear a comfortable pair of jogging pants and a t-shirt, since I expected Hong Kong to be pretty damn hot. Of course, I took one change of underwear, but I wanted to travel lightly, so I took nothing  else aside from a bag of snacks and peanut butter sandwiches for the train ride. Though I felt fairly safe with the 1,250 RMB, right at the last minute, before I walked out the door here in Handan, I decided to take my ATM card. I knew I didn’t have much money in the account, only about $400, which I’d just kept in the account in case I needed to change my flight home to an earlier time, emergency money, but I thought it might be good to have it with me. Since Mr. Hu had warned me about thieves on the trains, I didn’t want to take either of the two credit cards I’d also brought to China, and left them locked up at my apartment.

There are two types of sleeper cars on Chinese trains: a hard sleeper and a soft sleeper. I soon found out that they’d booked me on a hard sleeper. The hard sleepers are six bunk beds, 3 on each side of a narrow aisle, which is open to the larger aisle that runs the length of the train, so there’s no door to close to passing foot traffic. My cot was the middle of the three. I barely fit on the cot. I suppose few Chinese people are 6 foot tall. Throughout the 20 hour train ride, foot traffic in the main aisle kept bumping my feet. I got little sleep, even after I popped an Ambien, which might also be related to the fact that there was a 3 year old sharing the cot with her mother below, and she found it amusing to toss her stuffed horsey up into the air, oftentimes landing on me and the man across from me, for about 18 of the 20 hours of the train ride.

We arrived at Guangzhou Station at about 8am the next morning. I’m always quite good with directions. I’d done a bit of research of my own before I left Handan, and I knew that I needed to get from Guangzhou’s main rail station to Guangzhou East station, in order to catch the train to Hong Kong. I went right out to the street, hailed a taxi, since I didn’t want to risk getting lost on the Guangzhou subway, and got to Guangzhou East within about 30 minutes, given the dense traffic. It was my first time to Guanzhou and I was surprised that it looked about the same as other big cities I’d seen in China. I suppose I was expecting a larger version of San Francisco’s Chinatown. At Guangzhou East station, I found the counter for tickets to Hong Kong right away. It was literally the first counter as I walked in. However, it wasn’t a quick bus ride across a bridge, as Mr. Hu had stated, it was a 2 hour train ride across most of Guangdong province. The one-way ticket to Hong Hom, Hong Kong was 190 HK dollars. I’m not sure of the exact exchange rate, but I think the RMB and the HK dollar are just about the same. It was a bit pricier than I expected, given the limited cash I had, but the train ride turned out to be quite pleasant. Train attendants passed through and gave out free bottles of spring water. A young Israeli business man sat next to me and we struck up a conversation. He was traveling to Hong Kong for the jewelry exposition, as he was a jewelry designer for men’s necklaces and bracelets. I had the nudge of a feeling that he was probably gay. He was actually rather cute and reminded me of our friend Travis in America. He gave me a few tips on hotels in Guangzhou, where he lives, if I happened to spend the night there some time, and spoke highly of the city, saying that it was enormously cheaper than Hong Kong, but had all of the same amenities.

We parted ways at Hong Hom station and I flagged a taxi outside the station and showed the driver the address that Mr. Hu had given me for the Chinese consulate. I suppose I had expected taxi drivers in Hong Kong to speak English, but mine spoke none, so the taxi ride was quiet, and I took in some of the sights of the city. It certainly looked a lot different than Guangzhou, despite what my Israeli friend had said, with a skyline that was remarkably more modern, and streets that were even remarkably cleaner. The trouble began when we arrived at what should’ve been the Chinese consulate. While the taxi driver waited, a guard in the security booth outside the building handed me a piece of paper with a different address on it, saying that this building was no longer the consulate office for visa applications. So, back into the taxi, I was driven to the second location, for a total of about 40 minutes of driving and a taxi fare of 150 HK dollars. Things were starting to add up, in more ways than one. But I was relieved to finally be at the consulate, even though I found that the consulate was closed for lunch from 12pm to 2pm, and I had arrived at 12:05.

Making the best of it, and excited to be in Hong Kong, amongst more white people than I’d seen since leaving SF, I found a nearby Mexican restaurant, Mexican restaurants being non-existent on the mainland, and had an enjoyable meal of fried corn and black bean dumplings, grilled chicken breast with mole sauce, refried beans, Mexican rice, and an iced tea. I walked around afterward and took a few photos. If I had to describe Hong Kong in relation to cities that I’ve already visited, the busier, pedestrian-centered streets seem like a cross between SF’s Chinatown and New Orleans’ French Quarter, whereas the more financial-oriented streets reminded me of SF’s financial district. Hong Kong seems clean and relatively smoke free.

Once 2pm rolled around, I walked back to the consulate, only to find a line had formed at the door that stretched for about a block. We filed on slowly, through a security checkpoint, then waited in the main office area for our number to be called. It seemed to go relatively quickly, and within 45 minutes, my number was called. The next problem arises: I turn in all of my paper work, though they also require me to fill out another form. I expected that would be it, since Mr. Hu said just give them the papers and they’ll give you the visa, no wait, no money. Instead, the clerk took my papers and told me the visa would be ready the next day. I told him I had to go back by train to China that afternoon and I thought it would only take a few minutes. He said, no, tomorrow is the earliest. I tried to explain my situation and that I had no hotel or money to stay in a hotel for the night. He remained stone-faced. I had no choice. I came to find out that if I would’ve arrived and had my papers processed before noon, then I could’ve had the visa by the same afternoon. But, given my arrival time in Guangzhou and the travel time to Hong Kong, that had been impossible. In addition, it turns out the work visa wouldn’t be free after all, and he handed me a slip of paper that I read as 103.00 HK dollars in cash only. I told him I thought I wouldn’t have to pay an additional fee and he just said, “Impossible.”

So I left, still somewhat upbeat, thinking it might be nice to stay in Hong Kong overnight after all, since I’d never seen the city. I walked around the area and asked people if there were any hotels nearby, because I had yet to find any on my own. I was directed to three different ones, and found two more along the way, walking around the district for about 3 hours in total. Two of the hotels were so shabby and run-down that I feared I might catch a disease just by touching the handle of the front door. The others were charging rates of 4,000 to 5,000 HK dollars per night, since there was that jewelry convention in town. My hopes began to be dampened. I was, however, extremely happy that I had brought my ATM Visa, because otherwise, I would not have been able to afford a hotel. Finally, tired and sweaty (it was hot as hell, honestly,) I stumbled upon Luk Kwok Hotel on Gloucester Road. They quoted me a price of 1,950 HK dollars. I grabbed it. I really felt I had no choice. The Luk Kwok turned out to be a fantastic place to stay. It’s quite elegant and clean and its staffed by the most adorable and well-mannered Chinese boys I’d yet to find in China, and they all spoke English. I felt like I’d found an oasis. Everytime they handed me a document, they used both hands. I was shown to the elevator. I was called Sir. It was really a welcomed rest. I could’ve stayed in the lovely bathroom for the entire trip, honestly, because I’d already grown so tired of the usual filthy bathrooms with no bathtub on the mainland. The one night hotel stay even included a free drink in the bar downstairs, and it didn’t even require you to make buy something else. I had a Guinness!

That evening, I ate at a pub that served fairly cheap meals and opted for grilled chicken once again, this time Chicken Kiev, with a side of grilled potatoes and steamed vegetables. I know I could’ve been dining on Hong Kong’s Chinese culinary treats, but I figured this was my only opportunity to have true Western food for what might be months and months. After sundown, once the weather had cooled, I spent the late evening walking around the Wanchai district. I stopped at an ATM machine and checked my balance for my account now that I’d paid for the hotel, and to my alarm, I only had the equivalent of 163.00 HK dollars left, but at least I’d covered all my expenses and it seemed like nothing else would go wrong. One odd observation: nearly 70% of all of the stores that I passed in the area were tiling stores. Another: I was approached by at least six, um, I believe they were prostitutes, though they could’ve just been erotic dancers, as I walked down one street. They were congregated outside each of their little bars. I kept wanting to say to them, no, sorry, but do you have a brother? but I didn’t gather up enough courage.